Cream cheese is made by mixing sweet milk or skim milk with sweet cream to a desired fat content (usually 10 to 16 percent). The mixture is pasteurized, homogenized and cooled to a setting temperature (typically 62-92° F.). It is then inoculated with lactic acid bacteria and incubated until sufficient acidity has developed to cause the separation of curd from whey. The coagulation process may, optionally, be aided by the addition of a small amount of rennet. After the curd is separated from whey (e.g., using a centrifugal separator; see, U.S. Pat. No. 2,387,276), stabilizers, salt, and other ingredients are added. Finally, the product is packaged and chilled. Many variations to this process have been introduced through the years (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,656,320; U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,024; U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,604; U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,975; U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,736; U.S. Pat. No. 6,558,761; U.S. Pat. No. 6,416,797; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,971).
Under the current Standards of Identity, cream cheese is required to contain at least 33 percent fat and no more than 55 percent moisture. One way to maintain these parameters and to reduce raw material costs is to lower the amount of protein present. However, when protein is reduced significantly below about 6.5 percent, baking properties tend to be adversely affected, particularly with respect to the firmness of baked goods. For example, New York-style cheesecakes made using cream cheese with a low content of protein may appear uncooked in the center. For this reason, the amount of protein present in cream cheese products has remained relatively high.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a low protein cream cheese which can be used to make cheesecakes having similar organoleptic properties and texture to cheesecakes made with conventional cream cheese products having high protein levels. The present invention provides such a low protein cream cheese.